As the mainstream channels enter their death throws, so follows the Olympics

Source: Creative Commons

Olympics Cancelled?

I
grew up in the 1970s and 80s. Back then we only had four channels, and
if the president was on, you were screwed. Good luck finding out if
Charo was the secret guest on Fantasy Island, or what happened to Arnold
in the back room of the bicycle shop. Nope; you were a prisoner to the
State of the Union address.

Because there was not a lot on television, the Olympics got big
coverage and would spill out across all the channels. It would be all
people talked about for weeks and American Gold medalists were made into
instant celebrities. Over the years the mainstream channels have lost
viewers in droves. We have entire generations of people now who have
never gotten their news from watching it on live TV.

These younger folks don’t have a clue who the lead anchors are, or
how long they have been in the news business. The concept of waiting
until six o’clock to find out what happened that day seems so archaic
that the idea does not even enter their minds.

I bring this up because as the mainstream channels enter their death
throws, so follows the Olympics. They used to be able to take an athlete
nobody has ever heard of and promote them to star-like levels in mere
days, but the days of manufacturing Olympic celebrities are quickly
coming to an end.

Have you ever seen a good Olympic mascot? They look like homoerotic aliens now

Source: Creative Commons

People Have Lost Interest

Back
in the day, people knew the games were coming and got very excited.
They would start watching the tryouts months ahead and pick out their
favorites.

Now you see posts on social media sites that say, “I guess I missed
the games, meh, who cares? Did anyone see Game of Thrones? When the hell
are the dragons finally going to do something?”

To generations of young people it is no different than watching
anything you can see on ten different sports channels any day of the
week.

Radio star Brian Hagen posted this on Facebook: "This ancient form of
gladiatorial showmanship is mere pissing in the wind. It seems if one
country is not at war with another, they at least have to show who has
the most cojones by turning to a waxed ice floor and brooms. Also, have
you ever seen a good Olympic mascot? They look like homoerotic aliens
now."

Kathy Wiest posted on Facebook: "Once I saw the Olympics from the
inside, I have never watched the games again. It is a complete racket by
the IOC that only cares about its own power, not the athletes. I
actually feel sorry for the athletes that sacrifice so much for this. I
would support privatizing the games but the Socialist run IOC would
never allow it."

Most Olympic host cities have lost money

Source: Tarrin Lupo via Darryl W. Perry

People Question if the Games are Worth the Price

Frank
LeClair said, “I don't have a problem with the international
competition. Much or our society is centered around competition, at
least for entertainment purposes, and I do believe it is important for athletes to compete internationally to see who is the
best, fastest, strongest, etc., etc. What I don't agree with is the pomp
& circumstance surrounding it.

Millions of dollars spent preparing a city for the event, millions
more spent as each country/city tries to outdo the others with their
spectacles of entertainment. I read an article that said most host
cities have lost money hosting the Olympics. That's money that
could have been spent much better to improve opportunities for
poverty-stricken citizens in their area.”

World-renowned philosopher, Stefan Molyneux, reminds us who is
actually paying for this: “The Olympics is always sold to the captive
citizenry as a way to make money; as if, somehow, your money being
siphoned out of your wallet and your children’s futures, and going to
developers, athletes, and IOC executives, is somehow going to make you
richer. Well of course that is not true at all.”

Molyneux
goes on to say, “No modern games have ever made a red cent; what they
do is inflate the returns and deflate the costs. This Enron-style
accounting is how they sell the Games to the captive citizenry. Past
games have been complete fiscal disasters.

The citizens of these towns or cites have been paying off these debts
for sometimes four decades or more. Of course the few people that made a
profit are long gone, the athletes are retired, and still the hapless
people who weren't even born when the Olympics took place are continuing
to pay the debts of 'playtime' for the rich kids.

As you watch these rich kids reaching for a medal, they have another
hand reaching deep inside the pockets of you and your children. As they
slide deeper and deeper down the hill, they slide into debt and
enslavement.”

Perhaps it is finally time to privatize the games

Source: Tarrin Lupo via Darryl W. Perry

Time to End the Games or Make them Private

Adam
Kokesh from “Adam Versus the Man” went on to add, “The Olympic Games
reinforce nationalism, racism, and personal identification with whatever
protection racket you happen to have been born into.

They should be replaced will global sporting events that celebrate
human beings as individuals or members of cooperative teams, not as
subjects of governments seeking to reinforce a collectivist slave
mentality.”

Taxpayers paid $625,000 for each athlete at the Salt Lake games: not
just American athletes, but every athlete. Entire industries and
facilities revolve around the collection of this pool of tax money.

Perhaps it is finally time to privatize the games so people who enjoy
the competition can fund it voluntarily instead of forcing everyone to
pay for it.